Safety-bridge.



M. F. SLATTERY & C. A. DIEHM. SAFETY BRIDGE. APPLICATION FILED IAN. 24. 1913. KEN1-:wen IIIAII. 18.1915.

1 1 58,866.. Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

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M. F. SLATTERY L C. A. DIEHIVL SAFETY BRIDGE. APPLICATION FILED IAN-24,1913 RENEWED MAR. 18| 9l5- 1,158,866. Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

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` ZMATTHEW Fg SLATTERY AND'GHARLES A, DIEHM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- 'VANIA.

c c SAFETY-BRIDGE.

1.@ Specication `of Letters-IEatent.

- Patented-Nov. 2,1915.

Application led January a4, 1913, Seriatla214,016.` V Renewed'March 18, 1,915.4 Serial N o. 1,5,391.

To all whom/,it may canrn:

Be it knownthatV wegfMa'rrHnw F. SLAT- TERX and CHARLES AgDrnHMlmitizens of the United States, re$i,ding at Bhi'ladelpjhia, in the county: of Philadelphia, and State" of Pennsylvania, have .invented certain, new and useful Improvements in Safety-Bridges, of which thefollowing isV aspeccation.

.This invention relates t0, safetyA bridges designed for the purpose offnrevntn'g accidents to a ,ir'emanorven'gineerjwho happen to. be. inthe tenderaccompanyng the locomotive atx?L VSimile[When the Vcoupling between the locomotive and tender, has parted or becomeinjured. Many firemen `and engineers have .lost their lives and become maimed through the accidental uncoupling of the locomotive from the tender. In` an laccident of this kind,the person in the tender is thrown lforward upon the track andthe momentum of the tender causes the. wheels to pass over the person. so thrown `from `the tender.

OurA invention isjintended tov obviate this character of accident andV to render thelives ofy the engineer and; fireman ,Safer Lagainst possible accidentV ofV this., character'. "-When the coupling between the. locomotivevand tender has parted, owing tosom'e defect in the coupling or through` some. accidental cause, the air brake ris uncoupledandthe brakes areset, but there is amomentum to the entiretrain` for ,a matterj of twelve or fifteen feet, depending upon the speed at which the trainwas going z it ,th etimey the brakes were set.

Our invention comprises a device' whic is normally carriedunderneath the floor of the tender. and which in .case ofthe parting of the coupling between the locomotive and tender, will be drawn outwardfbyand be released from the loco-motive to Vprovide a strong metal net-work to prevent the person in vthe tender. from. being throwny in,V

front and under the wheels.

These and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a locomotive and tender, parts being broken away to show the sliding frame members for lsupporting the netting; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the tender and showing the safety device extended in position for use after the locomotive has become detached from the tender; Fig. 8 is a front elevation ofthe same; Fig. 4L is aside elevation ofthe extended safety device and its guide,the cover of the guide being removed; Figg is a side elevation of one of the ysliding members detached; Fig. 6 is a top plan view of thesame. j Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1, designates the ,locomotive and '2 is the tender Qr-,tank which is `usually coupled to they locomotive 4and is alsoconnected by .suitable .Couplings tothe train.` `The air brake train line?) may be ofthe usual or: any. suitabletype Thefloor 4; of the tender is ,usuyally inclined in orden that thecoal orsother fuel resting upon the floor may Vbereadily shoveledl up by the fireman` and this floor sometimes. extends over the space between the locomotive and tender, as shown in Fig. 1 of the ydra-Wing. However, it will be understood that our safety device may be `used with any character of tender, whether there is, anextension over the `space of the locomotive ornot.

Connected to the opposite sides of the tender near the front thereof, is a ,guide casing. 5 ,provided with a curved guideway 6 extending longitudinally thereof andv provided with shoulders 7 and 8. Anti-friction rollers 9 and 10 are j ournaled at opposite ysides ofthe guideway 6 as shownmore clearly, in Fig. 1. Mounted to slide longitudinally in the guideways 6 are ,si-:.e' supporting members 11 for the netting 12a. Themembersll may each be in the Vform of a' curved lrod or bar and at vone end each member is provided with al down turned lug 12. having an anti-friction lroller 13. The rings 141 on the sides of the netting 12a `surround the members 11` and slide thereon, so that when the members 11 are pushed back into the casing, the netting 12a will fold and be disposedwithin abox orv casing ltentirely protected from the weather and out of the way. It is to be noted that the rings 14 are permanently connected to the members 11 to keep the netting always extended laterally.

At the front end of the netting rings 16 are provided and these rings surround a rod 1-7 adjustably mounted in the members 11 and provided with lock nuts 18 for permitting the members 11 to be adjusted transmove in rings or suitable keepers 23, said Y rods being each provided with a ring24 at the front end adapted to engage the bill 25 of the hook 19 toV hold it in propel' engage ment with the member 11 and with the chain 20.

At the rear end of the latch 22 is a down turned stop 2G and interposed between said stop and the lug 12 is a cushion spring 27, the purpose of which is to always insure the engagement of the ring 24 with the bill 25 of the hook 19 and also to serve the purpose of a cushionin case of a jar between the front ends of the members 11 and the locomotive or other part. `Within the guideway 6 is a pivotedback stop 28, said stop being pivoted at 29 and provided on its free end with an extended finger 30 which projects through a slot-in the casing 5 so that the stop-may be thrown upinto its recess against the shoulders 7 when the netting is to be collapsed or folded within the box or casing 14. p

vA spring 31 is secured to the upper wall of each side of the guideway G and the purpose of these springs is to hold the members 11 down in place. A'curved guide slot 32 is provided in the casing 5 to give room for the sliding latch 22. Y

lThe operation of our invention may b i briefly described as :follows: When the coupling between the locomotive and tender has parted and the train line 3 has separated,

there is a pull upon the chain 2O connected to the hooks 19 and when the pull is sufficient, the bills 25 of thehooks are disengagedfrom the rings 24on the latch 22 and swung out into the position shown in Fig. 4,

thus releasing the chain 20 from the hooks after the supporting members 11 have been withdrawn to the position shown in Fig. 4. When in this position, it will be noted that the back stop 28 dropsinto the position shown in said figure and that the spring 27 is compressed.` In this condition, should the fireman or other person in the tender atrthe time of separation of the locomotive therefrom be thrown forward by the jar or mo@ mentum of the tender, he would land in the net 12a and be prevented from dropping out out onto the track infrontrof the moving tender. Y i Y .i

From, the foregoing, it will -be obvious that our invention-is simple in construction, reliable and eiicient in operation, can be readily attached to any tender, is 'entirely out of the way when not required for use and ,y

is automatic in its eXtensionfto position for Y Y 7o use in case of accident..V

We claim z;

1. A safety bridge comprising `guideways l connected to the opposite sides ofa locomotive tender and provided with curved guide grooves, yslidable Vmembers mounted in` said grooves and provided with" rollers, each of n said slidable membersfbeing provided with a gravity hook at its'frontv end, 'chains' adaptf A ed to be connected to4 thelocomotive and to A' said hooks, a slidable latchV rod for holding each of the hooks closed, a buffer spring at the rearend of eachV of said latch rods,

springfor holding said members in proper position, and a nettingoonnected to said '1 i" slidable members.

2. A safety bridge-comprising `gui,de vivaysV a ring, a gravity Vhook atjthe front end Aof eachof said members, a lspring at the rear end of each of said latches, aback stop on each of said guides, and a netting connected vto said slidablev members and adapted to be extended when said members are drawnout,

ward. I Y In testimony whereof we have aiiixedvY our signatures m presence of two witnesses;

5 MATTHEW r.- sLATTniaY.

' CHARLES A. DIEHM.V 'Y f Witnesses: A V` "I VA. C. HEAP,

BUnNET'r S..JoNEs.`

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing .theV Commissionerof AatentsL Washington, I). G. a f 

